1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention described herein pertain to the field of targets. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more embodiments of the invention enable a durable target apparatus and method of on-target visual display in which a shooter is presented with an on-target representation of the approximate location of a point of impact of a bullet fired by the shooter. In one or more embodiments of the invention, the shooter receives immediate visual feedback for each shot without requiring the shooter to look away from the target.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditionally, shooters who participate in target practice are unable to see the point of impact of the bullet on a typical non-durable paper target downrange because of the small diameter of the bullet hole on the target. At a typical target practice session, shooters take one or more shots at a target, and then periodically set down the firearm and view the target through a spotting scope, or alternatively, make their weapon safe and physically approach the target. The shooter then attempts to correlate the marks on the target with previous shots. Occasionally, a bullet leaves no additional hole in the target, for example, when the bullet passes through a hole previously made by another bullet that has already passed through the target. Not only is this approach to determining shot location time consuming, shooters have difficulty improving because they do not receive immediate feedback for every shot and in many cases are unsure as to which shot has produced which hole.
Improved paper targets exist which “splatter” or “flake” to provide an enlarged area about the hole in the target where the bullet has passed. There are also targets that show a different color around the bullet hole in the target, some of which are fluorescent for example. These targets attempt to provide on-target visual feedback directly on the target that is more visible than a hole in a non-splatter target. These targets still are problematic in that a shot through an existing hole in a target with two or more shots through it already provides no feedback to the user as to which hole the shot passed through. In addition, these targets are non-durable, for example penetrable, so must be purchased and replaced, cannot be printed out directly by a shooter on his or her own printer, and must be patched to cover the holes with the same type of material that splatters or flakes.
Mechanical targets exist that simply allow a shooter to know if the target was hit or not. In other words, there is no indication as to which side of the target or how far from the bull's eye a shot has hit. For example, some mechanical targets move when hit by a bullet and present, for example, a different colored target. This type of target is used in the biathlon, for example. Other mechanical based targets simply fall over when hit. Alternatively, a silhouette target makes a loud noise when hit. In addition, mechanical targets generally require some type of action to replace the target to its original position. One method for restoring the position of the target is to shoot a target that is mechanically attached to the other targets that have fallen, which provides mechanical energy that pushes the target back to its vertical orientation.
To provide immediate feedback to competitors in shooting matches, systems have been developed that display the exact shot location to the shooter after each shot, generally by employing a television to show the exact location of the shot displayed on a nearby television monitor. However, these systems require shooters to take their eyes off the sights or target to view the last shot location displayed on the nearby monitor. This approach prevents shooters from immediately critiquing their shot because they need to take their eyes away from their sights to view the television monitor. For example, in an Olympic “standard pistol” timed or rapid-fire stage, five shots are fired within 20 seconds or 10 seconds for example. It is impossible to put the firearm down and check each shot displayed on the monitor as each shot occurs in the time limit allotted.
Other systems exist that detect shot impacts on a target using sensors mounted behind the target. A combination of very complex equations is solved to triangulate the approximate location of the shot and many of these systems must be tuned to type of bullet being shot. For example, some systems require thicker metal for various bullet calibers so that the impact of the bullet is only detected by a single impact sensor, or minimal number of impact sensors mounted on the rear of the target. By using thicker metal, or stronger springs in the impact sensors, or high gas compression in the sensors, the number of sensors that register a shot can be kept to one or two for example. For these systems, if a shot is directly in between two sensors, two lights may be presented causing confusion. Complex arbitration logic is then required to only display one light. In addition, these systems generally present lights or a score on a board of display that looks like a target, but do not present lights directly on or about the target to minimize the time and angle that a shooter looks away from the actual target. Hence, these systems are not suitable for “action” shooting, moving target practice, timed or rapid fire shooting. Some systems require carved grooves in the rear portion of the target as well to limit the sensors that trigger when an impact from a bullet occurs. This requires extra manufacturing steps and provides areas on the target that can break if not properly curved, for example. Other systems drill holes in the back of the target which increases costs and in mentioned. Still other systems utilize complex circuitry to clock the differences in time between sensor triggers to calculate exact locations of the shot impact.
It would be desirable to have a firearm targeting system that could provide a plurality of modes, such as high-low training and/or left-right training and/or sector and bull's eye based training wherein the feedback to the shooter is presented immediately on-target, downrange from the shooter. It would also be an advantage to have a firearm targeting system that employs a simple sensor network and hardened target plate that can be used for all calibers of bullets. Furthermore, it would be an advantage to have a firearm targeting system that could prompt a shooter to shoot at a sequence of targets and provide immediate feedback of success directly on the target. Furthermore, it would be an advantage to have a moving target system that provides feedback of success directly on the target and visible downrange of the shooter, without requiring the shooter to look away from the target. For at least the limitations described above there is a need for a durable target apparatus and method of on-target visual feedback display that enable shooters receive immediate feedback of each shot without requiring the shooter to look away from the sights on the firearm or target.